*EPF310 11/13/2002
U.S. Regulatory Process Ensures Food Safety, Officials Say
(Foreign scientists learn about U.S. risk assessments, they add) (840)

By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

The United States has one of the most highly developed food regulatory process in the world, making the U.S. food supply among the safest, according to two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) senior scientists.

In a recent briefing on agricultural biotechnology at USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) headquarters in Maryland, Peter Bretting and John Radin said foreign scientists and journalists visiting ARS facilities throughout the United States "light up" when they learn about the broad scope of risk assessments used in the United States during the development of genetically engineered varieties of crops, livestock and fish that promise to help meet the world's growing food security needs.

The U.S. system serves "as a model" for other countries developing agricultural and food research centers, said Radin, who recently spoke to the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture on how the United States monitors and assesses the products of agricultural biotechnology.

Three federal agencies are responsible for regulating different aspects of agricultural biotechnology in the United States. USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulates the movement, importation and field testing of genetically engineered plants, livestock and microorganisms. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates foods and feed derived from new genetically-engineered crop varieties. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the use of pesticides, and therefore has responsibility for regulating crops genetically-engineered for improved forms of pest resistance, the officials noted.

The United States also serves as a training site for agricultural researchers from around the world who want to learn more about advanced agricultural science, including agricultural biotechnology. USDA has hosted visiting scientists each year at its research facilities and at leading agricultural universities, Bretting said. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has additional programs to help developing countries learn how to safely develop, manage and use biotechnology, according to USAID's web site.

After the United States, China is one of the "most active countries" in the world in developing a biotechnology sector, Bretting said. China is the world leader in the number of different genetically-engineered varieties currently planted in farmers' fields, he added.

Most scientists around the world agree that foods derived from agricultural biotechnology have proven to be as safe as foods developed through "traditional" means of plant breeding, the officials said. But the safety of foods enhanced by biotechnology is "largely underreported overseas." Adding to the public's confusion about biotechnology is that the topic has been "mingled" with anti-globalization sentiments by some biotech opponents, they said.

Biotechnology has won acceptance more from farmers -- who can easily see its food production benefits such as higher yields, reduced soil erosion, less pesticide use and disease resistancies -- than by some consumers who may be less aware of the foods' benefits directly, Bretting said.

Agricultural biotechnology ����- a collection of scientific techniques, including genetic engineering, that are used to create, improve or modify plants, animals or microbes -- includes a broad spectrum of technologies, some centuries old, the officials said. Examples of "traditional biotechnology" are the use of microbes to make cheese, bread and wine, they said.

Applications of biotechnology in livestock include its use to breed higher-producing dairy cows. Medically, biotechnology has been used to make pharmaceutical antibodies and insulin, and in diagnostic tests for diseases, Bretting said. The public worldwide, he added, is more accepting of the use of biotechnology in pharmaceuticals than in agriculture, he added.

Pointing to an example of the benefits of agricultural biotechnology, the officials said that switching to a bioengineered variety of papaya saved Hawaii's $14 million annual papaya crop, which had been infected with a deadly ringspot virus. Since papaya is an important food in many developing countries, the introduction of improved varieties could lead to significant economic and nutritional benefits throughout the world, Radin said.

An example of a direct consumer benefit from agricultural biotechnology would be reduced allergenicities in new bioengineered varieties of soybeans, used in products ranging from highly refined cooking oil to livestock feed, the scientists said.

To date, soybeans, maize and cotton have received the most attention from biotech researchers in the United States. A new variety of genetically-engineered maize resists corn rootworm. Currently, more pesticide is used to control corn rootworm in the United States than is used against any other crop pest. Genetically engineered foods approved for commercial use include potato, tomato, canola and squash. Rice genetically-engineered to contain higher concentrations of vitamins is one of the next major crops being developed that will be commercially available, they said.

Governments' heavy involvement in agricultural biotechnology brings substantial research resources to bear not only on developing this technology, but also in developing new means of risk assessment and mitigation. The government investment in research, where profit is not a motive, may also help dispel some critics' charges that agricultural biotechnology is being promoted only by large companies simply to make money and with no concern for safety, Bretting said.

Notably, USDA increased its funding of biotechnology risk assessment and risk mitigation research substantially in fiscal year 2002 (FY02) and is requesting another substantial budget increase for this research in FY03, the officials said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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